Bel Air Elementary first-graders Camryn Smith (front to back), Savannah Johnson, Cyncere Melvin and Wyatt Geist place valentines in envelopes in the hallway. The school had an "I Love Bel Air School Day" in conjunction with Valentine's Day because the school is scheduled to close in 2013.

A 46-year-old Columbia County woman was arrested on suspicion of murder Saturday afternoon after her roommate was found dead in their Martinez apartment.

Yvette Taylor told sheriff’s investigators that she left the apartment in the 300 block of Applecross Drive around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, returning about seven hours later to find Theodore Crew, 63, lying on the bathroom floor.
Columbia County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said an autopsy on Crew will be performed Sunday morning.

The Super Tuesday presidential preference primary isn’t until March 6, but voters in Georgia can start casting ballots as early as Monday.

In-person early voting in Columbia County for the primary will be held for the next two weeks, at the Board of Elections office at 500 Faircloth Drive in Evans, Building E of the Columbia County Government Center, according to elections officials.

Columbia County authorities are seeking a man who defrauded an Evans bank by claiming a church affiliation.

The sheriff’s office recently issued an arrest warrant for Varquis Elbert Lewis for theft by deception.

Lewis, 30, secured a $10,000 loan from Security Federal Bank on Evans Town Center Boulevard by telling the manager he needed to purchase furniture and equipment for Union Baptist Church on Greene Street in Augusta.

Tracy Roden was in tears of joy the moment her Model United Nations team was announced as the state winners at the High School Model UN Conference last February.

This year’s conference is set for Thursday through Saturday at Georgia Southern University. Roden, the leader of Grovetown High School’s Model UN team, hopes for a repeat of last year’s success, but she and her students will face challenges from 14 other schools from across Georgia.

Aaron Schmidt has been found guilty on all counts in the Jan. 31, 2011, death of his 14-year-old Harlem neighbor, Alana Calahan.

After about three hourse of deliberations, jurors returned to the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Michael Annis and rendered their decision on charges of murder, theft by taking and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime against Schmidt, 15, of Miles Road.

At the request of the defense, sentencing will be delayed to gather mitigating evidence for presentation at the hearing.